News from 2022-2023

Table discussions at the Eldorado community conversation.

A sea of yellow post-its covers three oversized tablets after each community conversion hosted by the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education. The sticky notes contain hopes and dreams for APS students and expectations for the district.

Parents, teachers, neighbors, principals, business owners, and even students have been gathering at these public forums to discuss how APS can provide the best education for its 73,000 students. Their ideas will help the board develop an APS vision focused on student outcomes and based on expressed community values and "guardrails" that protect those values.

From there, the board plans to set five-year SMART goals for the district (SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.) The board hopes to announce these goals in mid-January. 

About 200 people attended the first two public listening events in November, held at Rio Grande and Eldorado high schools. The board is hosting three more in the coming weeks at:

• 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, at Jefferson Middle School, 712 Girard Blvd. NE
• 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, at Cibola High School, 1510 Ellison Drive NW
• 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, at Albuquerque High School (all Spanish session), 800 Odelia Road. NE

Board members are meeting with high school students, newcomers, neighborhood groups, and community organizations to gather as much feedback as possible.

And they have created an online survey for those who can't make public listening events.

The APS Board of Education is changing how it does business because student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change. As Board Member Crystal Tapia-Romero told the Eldorado crowd, "Our whole purpose is to hear directly from you as we connect the board room to the classroom."